the question
by max acorn
Summary: future fic. ash and dawn have been best friends for years, and now at the high of their careers, ash wants to ask her something that will change their lives forever. pearlshipping. please read and review and let me know what you think


MA: hey peoples. I'm back but before I start work on my other stories, I was bitten by the pearlshipping bug so here is my first and probably only pearlshipping fic. Once again, I don't own pokemon so don't sue me. And with that, ON WITH THE FIC.

The question

In a somewhat small room in the region of sinnoh, a young woman was humming to her self as she brushed her long beautiful ocean blue hair. Her loyal pokemon, pipplup, watched her groom herself with a bright smile on her face. If you didn't know already, her name was dawn, and tonight, she had a date. It had been over 8 years since dawn began her journey to be a top rank coordinator, like her mother Johanna. Dawn hadn't become a coordinator like her mother but she would go on to surpass her mother in ways she didn't think possible. In the 8 years since she began, dawn has come far in the world of pokemon coordination, winning both the sinnoh and johto grand festivals. Her skills and grace in contests earned her the title of 'queen of contests' by her fans and the media. Yes, dawn did have fans and not a few. Over the years, she gained fans from all over the world. Some for her skill but mostly for her beauty. You see, dawn had blossomed from a cute girl into a beautiful woman. She looked almost the same has she always been but her prized blue hair had grown even long, she had gain a bit more height on her but most noticeable was her bust. Puberty was very kind to her, giving her C cup breasts which matched her slim figure, making her the object of the advances of many a guy. There was not a day that went by that the berlizt household wasn't besieged by love letters, flowers, candies and marriage proposals. Its not that dawn wasn't flattered by the wave of attention she was getting. She just wasn't interested in marrying perfect strangers. In face, in an interview with_ sinnoh news now_, she stated that she was single but not looking for anything serious right now. When asked why, she merely responded 'I don't want to look for the perfect guy. I already know where he is'.

This leads to the present day and her room, which was covered with medals, ribbons and pictures of herself with her friends. But if one were very observant, one would notice a trend with the photos. The one consist in all of them, aside from dawn and her pokemon was the appearance of one person; a boy in a red cap, a black and yellow vest, with a pikachu resting on his shoulder. There wasn't a single picture without him in the entire room. On the bed, next to the rest water pokemon was a light blue sleeveless dress, laid out with the uttermost care. It was obvious that it was her choice of dress for her date tonight. Suddenly, she paused in her grooming, almost as if she sensed something in the air. Well, what ever that something was, it caused her eyes to widened a little and her already brilliant smiled to brighten even more, if that was even possible.

"Mom, could you get the door?" she called out from her room to her mother who was down stairs.

"Dawn, what do you mean? There is no one…."

Her response was cut short by the ringing of the door bell. The older woman looked up at the ceiling, wondering exactly how her daughter knew that there was someone at the door. She shrugged it off, remembering who exactly who it was her daughter was going out with tonight. She walked over to the door and opened it, revealing the guest.

"Hello, young lady. Is your mother in?" spoke the young man, earning a heart warming smile from Johanna.

"Still such a charmer, eh ash?" she greeted, drawing the young man into a hug. It was the young man in the pictures, ash Ketchum. The years have been good to ash in more ways than one. For one, ash conquered the sinnoh league on his first try and even was able to defeat the members of the sinnoh elite 4. It would be years though before he would land a win again the world champion Cynthia. After taking a break to 'find himself', ash was test his luck again against the kanto, johto and hoenn and this time, he won. His string of victories made him an overnight celebrity, earning him the title of 'master trainer'. Ash would later go on to become the secret head of the battle frontier, replacing Brandon who retired to fully pursue his love of archeology. Since only a select few trainers are actually invited to challenge the battle frontier and even a rarer few even get a chance to face the head of the battle frontier, ash doesn't see many battles but that doesn't take away from his skill and power as a trainer himself. But what changed the most was ash himself. No longer the short kid he was, ash now 5'10, a giant compared to his younger self. He also gained a good deal of muscle on his upper body, due to his own self training to master the mysterious power known as aura. He had long since retired his trademark cap and grew out his hair to the point where he had a small pony tail in the back. To add to this was ash's 'look'. That was what his fans called it. Ash gave a look that sat between the line of confidence and cockiness. In short, ash ketchum was not only a pokemon master but a compete heartthrob. He could send women into fever frenzy with a word or a look but don't misunderstand. Ash was by no means a playboy. In the years between the start of his career to today, he had only two real girlfriends. He never actively looked for a girlfriend and no one knew why. Well, no one but those who knew of his situation with a certain blue hair girl. Tonight, ash was wearing a smiled brown overcoat with a white undershirt, blue jeans and sneakers, since he hated over dressing for things. Despite all his achievements, awards, and titles, he was still ash. Running into the home behind him was his eternal partner, pikachu.

"Aw, pikachu! How are you?" Johanna asked, bending down and scratching his ear.

"Pika, pikachu." The electric mouse chirped in response. Pikachu remained basically the same over the years but with one major difference. On his back was a 4in scar that ran diagonally across him. No one knows exactly how or where pikachu receive this scar but ash and he wouldn't tell anyone.

"You're a bit earlier."

"Better to be early than late."

"That's true. Hope the trip over wasn't too bad."

"Naw. Not with my friend taking me."

"Weren't you afraid of being spotted?"

"It's cool. We normally fly too fast for anyone to see."

"Having fun you two?"

The source of the voice came from dawn, standing on the stairs, looking down with a grin at her mother and her friend. She was wearing the light blue dress that laid on her bed a few minutes ago but to add to it was a pearl white vest and a pair of white high heels. Ash returned her smile as she descended the stairs like an angel, in his opinion anyway. Before she reached the bottom, she somewhat leaped off the remained stairs and made a quick dash over to ash before jumping on to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck while he spun her around a bit before giving ash a quick kiss on the lips. Johanna couldn't help but marvel at the reaction of her daughter. She never seemed more alive than when ash comes to visit.

"Hey you."

"Hi. Like my dress?" she asked, releasing him and twirling around to model it for him.

"Of course I love it. You made it, remember?" he answered. Every since ash saw her designs for dresses when they were younger, he encouraged her to do more, and this was big considering that ash didn't like 'girly stuff'. With ash's support, dawn created more and more designs until one of them actually caught the attention of the general public after she wore one for an important contest. She often supplements her income with her side business DBD, a.k.a. dresses by dawn.

"Oh, you flatterer. Hey pikachu!" she called to the mouse pokemon.

"Pi pi. Pikachu." He said, kind of in an anxious tone.

"I know. Bunnery is in the back."

Pikachu lit up and, not having lost any of its legendary speed, sped out of the room.

"Took him a while huh?"

"Well, he takes after his owner, doesn't he?"

"Ouch! That hurt, dawn." Ash said in mock hurt.

"So where are you two going tonight?" ask the elder berlizt woman.

"Hearthome city. I know a good restaurant there and the owner owes me dinner for two so I figured I'd take someone. But I couldn't find anyone so I'd settled for dawn."

"Ash, you are terrible!" dawn said, with a playful slap.

"But how will you get there from here in a night?"

"The usual way." He answered, twirling a poke ball on the finger.

"You brought him?"

"Of course dawn. How did you think I got here so early?"

"Well, you two be careful and watch out for those fans of yours. They see you two out together, you'll get mobbed."

"No need to worry, mom." She spoke her trademark line.

"That's when I worry the most." Johanna answered with her classic response.

"And ash? Don't keep her out too late."

"I won't."

"Ok. Have fun you two."

The duo then linked arms and left the house, with ash still with that single poke ball in his hand.

"Is this far enough?"

"It's good enough. Ok, come out, rayquaza!" ash commended, tossing out the ball and in a flash of light, out of it emerged the emperor of the sky, rayquaza. Among his many titles, ash's most unique title is that of 'tamer of legends'. This is due to the fact that ash is the only trainer in the world to have captured 3 legendary pokemon and rayquaza is his most well known. He could be often seen flying thru the air on its back, akin to a king riding a chariot in the sky. This also deters pokemon thieves and poachers from stealing it since rayquaza aren't tolerant of anyone coming into their territory and this one considers any where ash is his territory.

"Ray-ray! Oh I I've missed you!" dawn squealed as she hugged the snout of the dragon type pokemon, causing it to blush and growl affectionately. Even though rayquaza was one of the most powerful pokemon on earth, he was still ash's pokemon and dawn loved all of ash's pokemon and they in turn love her. Ash grinned and shook his head at the scene. His mighty rayquaza who could scare a pokemon back into a pokemon with just a roar, now reduced to the temperament of a simple house cat. The master trainer jumped off the ground and landed on the back of his pokemon with unbelievable skill.

"Your chariot awaits, milady." He said, extended his hand to his lady friend.

"Thank you, good sir." She responded, taking his hand, allowing him to pull her onto the legend's back. She sat right behind ash and wrapped her arms around his well tone waist.

"Ready?"

"Always."

"Ok. Rayquaza, hearthome city and don't spare the gas."

The sky dragon growled in agreement as it lifted off into the air and blasted off at high speed towards their destination.

Ash and dawn arrived just outside hearthome city in just under an hour and landed on the outskirts, as to not draw unwanted attention to themselves. Ash recalled his pokemon into his pokemon and the duo headed into the city. Sadly, their attempt at avoiding unwanted attention was flawed. They seemed to have forgotten that they are well known throughout the world and it's very hard to go unnoticed when you look as they do. Almost immediately, they were swarmed by people; most asking for autographs, others asking for dates, and even challenges to pokemon battles but some how, they were able to wade thru the sea of humanity and escape. Normally, ash would jump at the chance to battle but the only pokemon he had on hand was rayquaza and he long since came to the decision never to battle with any of his legendary pokemon since they have such overwhelming power than any other pokemon he'd likely battle. After seeing the sights the city had to offer, the two arrived at Alan ray's, a very popular restaurant with great food and a great atmosphere for couples on dates. Normally, it would take months just to get on the waiting list for a reservation but ash didn't need it. It seems a few months ago, someone attempted to steal the owner's pokemon. Fortunately for Alan, the restaurant's namesake, ash was in town visiting a local school and the thieves' van passed by him. It's not known exactly how ash stopped them but when officer jenny arrived on the scene, their van was trashed, the pokemon freed and the thieves were huddled in a corner somewhere. Alan was so grateful, that he said that ash could have dinner at his restaurant any time with anyone he wanted, on the house.

Thus we come to dinner. Dawn and ash were set up with a nice table towards the back of the restaurant, as to attempt some semblance of privacy. It did do it, but not without half of the customers and staff staring at them, whispering to each other. There was a well known saying when talking of ash and dawn; 'where one is, the other is not far behind.' There were very few times that the two of them weren't seen together, be it were contests, pokemon battles or special events. Many people thought there was something more between them than just close friends but no one could really prove anything. Both of them have had outside relationships with others but they remained so close. Word in the news community is that a major newspaper is offering $1 million to anyone who produces proof of the exact nature of ash and dawn's 'friendship'. Translation; any picture of them kissing or doing other things. But we are drifting off topic somewhat. The duo sat down and had their run of the menu, on the house for the night. Even though ash could pay for it ten times over but being classic ash, he could never turn down free food. He ordered just about everything off the menu, which surprised Alan to no end. Dawn was much more reserved than her partner in dinner but she still ate a lot for a girl of her figure. During dinner, the two talked of many things; life, contests, battles, family, friends, etc. it seemed that there was no end of subjects for them to talk of. Sometimes, ash would just look at dawn, either eating or speaking and just stare at her, as if she were the only think in the universe to look at but he seemed to love the view. It was just this thinking that lead up to it. Looking back, many people called it the moment that shook the pokemon world. A few years later, when asked what he was thinking at that moment, he answered honestly 'I don't even know.' But nonetheless, ash was about to do something that would change his life forever.

"Wow! This steak is amazing! No wonder people line up around the block for a table." She stated, cutting her steak and taking another bite.

"Tell me about it." Ash responded, taking a sip from his root beer.

"Dawn."

"Yeah ash."

"…………………………………..will you marry me?"

"Yes. Mmmmmmmm! Even the mash potatoes are delicious!"

Ash couldn't believe his ears or his mouth. For no reason at all, he asked dawn, his best and closest friend for the past 8 years to be his wife. And what's more, she agreed too. What did he just do? Why did he do that? Ash has never really considered marriage before, considering he'd only had 2 girlfriends. The first was his long time friend misty, the cerulean city gym leader. It started quite well but sadly, misty's temperament made it hard for the maturing trainer to deal with. Not to mention, she seemed to have a very big problem with ash's bond with dawn. In the end, the relationship ended very badly and it would be years before the two would be on speaking terms. The second was Annabel, the salon madam of the battle frontier. She and ash got along great and she even trained ash on how to read the hearts of pokemon like she can. But in the end, she chose to end it with ash. When asked, she merely said 'I tried to take what he had already given away.' But even with Annabel, he never considered marrying her. And here he was, proposing to dawn, out of blue.

"I don't think you heard me dawn. I asked you to marry me." He said, unnaturally calm about it all.

"And I don't think you heard me, ash. I said yes." She answered back, wiping her mouth with a napkin and locking eyes with the man across from her.

"But why?"

"I should be asking you that. I mean, we aren't exactly dating, nor are we a couple."

She was speaking the truth. They weren't a couple at all, although the line between friends and more has been crossed many times. In fact, a few years ago, they lost their virginity to one another and have had many sexually encounters that last even today but they both decided to remain 'just friends'.

"So why ash?"

"I don't know why. It just came out." He said, trying to find an answer in his own head but no clear one presented itself. Just then, he felt something warm and soft grasp his hand. He knew this feeling, of course, being dawn's own hand. He looked up at her, taking in her warm smile, her beautiful hair, and those eyes he seemed to get lost in every time he looked into them. And just like that, the fog of doubt in his mind began to clear and the answers were coming to him like a flood of reason and emotion.

"Just speak from your heart."

"I'll try. Dawn, years ago, I dreamed of being a pokemon master. I had always imagined what it would be like to be the best of the best, to stand on the top of the mountain and have everyone else look up to me as the number one. But now that I have reached the top, it feels good but I realized something. I couldn't have gotten this far without you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. I never could've imagined my life that I could come this far and I sure could've imagine having a girl this close to me. But now, I can't imagine my life without you in it. Even if I was with someone else, I couldn't be away from you. You're my light, dawn. Guiding me and keeping the darkness at bay. I…………. I love you. I guess I always have but I've never had to say it. All I know is that I want to be by your side and you by mine. Marriage is the only way that I can do that, I guess."

Ash bared his heart and soul to her and all dawn could seem to was listen as he expressed himself. She never knew ash to be this in tune with his emotions, especially with those emotions about her.

"That's my answer dawn. So now, why did you say yes?" he asked. Dawn wiped away a few tears from her eyes before refocusing on ash.

"Do you have to ask? Before you are my one."

"One?"

"I don't know how many kinds of men there are in the world. I don't even know what kind of man my father was. But I know you and I came to a decision a long time ago that I would marry a man who was just like you. But my problem was there is no one like you in the world. I could have any man I wanted. I could have boyfriends from here to johto. But I love you ash. I can't anyone else like I love you. I could get married 100 times and I'd still love you. I could live alone with no one and I'd still love you. I could die and be reborn as a grimer and I'd still only love you. So, there is no choice for me but to answer yes to you, ash."

Ash was beyond elated. To hear the woman you love say something like that couldn't be described in words.

"This…… I……..you……..me…."

"Don't strain yourself ash."

"I don't know what to say."

"I do. Where's the ring?"

"Ring?"

"You know, an engagement ring? The thing you give the woman you love when you propose to her?"

"AWWWW MAN! I DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THAT!" ash exclaimed, much to dawn's amusement.

"Its ok, ash. I know you don't have a ring but I can wait."

"Wait! I got something better than a ring."

Dawn had no idea what he was talking about nor did she know what he was looking as he dug around in his pockets for. After about a minute of searching, he found what he was looking for and presented it her in his palm: it was a small medallion, about the size of a quarter, deep brown in color, with the image of the sun and the moon on it.

"Ash, what is it?"

"Like it? I found it when Brandon brought me along for one of his research digs. It's called a sharing stone. According to Brandon, thousands of years ago, people made these special medallions and gave one half to a certain someone."

"Half?"

"Here, I'll show you."

Dawn wasn't really sure of what ash meant by 'half' until he began to turn the sides of the medallion. She heard it click and just like that, it was now in two pieces, with the moon on one half and the sun on the other.

"See? They would give these to that one special person in their lives. And each one was unique so that means that no other piece could fit with this one. Just like these two, you can only fit with me and I can only fit with you. I'm sorry it's not a ring, dawn."

"It's not as good as a ring……………….its better." Dawn said, moved by the meaning behind the story. She reached out for one of the pieces but ash closed his hand over it.

"Ash?"

"I wanna do this right, dawn."

Before dawn had the chance to ask, ash had gotten up from his seat and made his way to her side of the table. He stood before her, and with a noticeable exhale, ash got down on one knee, which gained the attention of just about everyone in the restaurant.

"Ok, gotta do this right. Dawn berlizt……………..will you marry me?" he asked, extending his hand to her, presenting her half of the sharing stone.

"You must be deaf since I already answered you. But yes, ash ketchum. I'll marry you."

He didn't need her to repeat herself. He smiled the biggest smile he ever smiled as he jumped to his feet, grabbing her out of her seat and spinning her around like a top. He had the same look on his face when he catches a new pokemon or gained an important gym badge. Dawn laughed in surprised at being spun around.

"ALRIGHT!!!! SHE SAID YES!!!" he exclaimed. Ash let her down on her feet but she still held on to him by his neck while he had his hands on her waist.

"I said yes the first time you ask."

"I know. I just wanted to hear it again."

That was all ash said before he and dawn drew to each and kissed each other. No longer would they kiss as close friends but as true lovers, as a couple, and soon, as husband and wife. Just then, the entire restaurant, who had been watching the little scene for a good while now, erupted into a roar of cacophony of cheers, cries from ladies who were moved by the scene and whistles but the two were in their own world, oblivious of anything or anyone around them. That is, until the flash of a camera caught their attention. Almost immediately, they broke apart and saw the culprit, yelling something about 'getting paid' before he ran out the door, whooping all the way. Ash and dawn groaned a bit, realizing that he just got a picture of them kissing and more than likely heard everything that happened between them.

"What do you want to bet that we end up on the front page of every paper in the world by tomorrow?" asked ash.

"You'd win that bet. Well, come on!" she answered, dragging him by the arm towards the exit.

"W-wait. Where are we going?"

"Home."

"Home? But it's still early."

"I know but I want some quality time."

Now for those who didn't know, 'quality time' was code for 'let's have hot sweaty sex' and dawn and ash have had lots of quality time over the years. After the first time, both had agreed to just keep things as they are and not pursue anything beyond friendship. But they both learned an important fact; they loved having sex with one another. Even when they both were seeing other people, they would always find time for this activity but the funny thing is that they didn't consider it cheating. To them, having sex with each other was just another way they expressed their friendship.

"But we just did that two days ago."

"I know, but that time, I was doing it with my best friend. This time, I want to do it with my fiancé."

"hmmmm, you have a point. Well what are we waiting for?"

They are thousands, if not millions of individual newspaper publications, magazine companies, and tabloid site all over the world. Each them have their own headline news stories to capture the attention of the public. Well, what ever their stories were before that night, they didn't mean a thing since they were all pushed to the sidelines. Because on the front paper and cover of every newspaper, magazine and blog all over the world was a single picture of a man and woman in a restaurant, sharing a deep passionate kiss. Normally such a picture would be better suited for the society pages but considering who the two are, it was no surprise. There were many headlines over the picture that varied from publication to publication but the _kanto times_ seemed to capture it the best with its headline:

**NUMBER ONE TRAINER AND NUMBER ONE COORDINATOR TO WED**

Needless to say, no matter what the headline said, the picture said enough and the reactions came swift and numerous. Many couldn't believe the story or the idea that they would just come out and get married. Others simply said 'I told you so', since they said something was going on between them. And countless others cried bitter tears at the fact that the two hottest people in the world of pokemon were getting married and to each other no less. There were countless reactions to the story but we should focus on the reactions that matter. Namely, on those who know the couple.

**PEWTER CITY**

**HARRISON HOUSEHOLD**

"Ahh, you are already ready."

First we go to a lone metal shack in the back yard of a well known family in pewter city. Inside of this meager looking dwell rested over 20 pokemon eggs, each at different stages of development. Watching over these young pokemon-to-be is a dark skinned man with brown hair. His hair once upon a time stuck straight up but now kind of limped to the sides of his head. His most notable feature was his permanently closed eyes, which seemed to be a strong trait in his family. He was Brock Harrison, former pewter city gym leader, former traveling companion of ash ketchum and now currently the most respected pokemon breeder in kanto. Brock bred his pokemon with all the love and care of a father over his children. It's said that Brock would only give someone one of his pokemon if he personally like them. He wouldn't just let anyone have one of his children unless he was sure they would care for them as he would. Brock began this morning, like every other morning; checking on the pokemon eggs, cleaning them, checking their temperature, shining their shells, etc. after finishing his rounds, he exited the shed, removing his gloves that he wore whenever he entered the egg hatchery. Waiting for him at the door was his faithful croagunk, with a towel ready to wipe off the sweat of his work.

"Thanks, buddy." He said to the poison frog pokemon after taking the towel. He looked around the spacious yard, filled with sleeping pokemon, all of whom he raised from eggs. He then caught sight of the only other human in the yard at the time. Surprisingly enough, it was a woman. She was feeding a trio of swinub, causing her to bend over. He nearly drowned in drool at the sight of the young woman's shapely behind. Now, normally, croagunk would power up a poison jab and routinely stick it into the spine of his owner but circumstances at changed.

"Are you watching my behind, Brock?" spoke the woman.

"Um….how could you tell?" he asked, bashfully.

"It's easy. I can always tell when you watch me with those beautiful eyes of yours."

She stood up straight and turned to Brock, revealing herself as Lucy, the pike queen of the battle frontier. It was really no surprise to him that she was there. After all, she just about lived there. After ash's battle with her all those years ago, Lucy became slightly obsessed with Brock and his 'beautiful eyes'. She found out all she could of him and his life. So imagine Brock's surprised to find this girl having dinner with his family upon his return from sinnoh. Afterwards, Lucy spent whatever free time she had with him and his large family. Over time, Brock grew out of his womanizing ways and soon only had eyes for her. She walked over to him, now sporting a whole new look from how she looked before. She wore a white t-shirt with a picture of a seviper on the front, long blue jean trousers and sandals. Her dark gray hair was tied in a bun in the back, covered with blue scarf. But she still had those thin snake-like eyes that earned her the nickname 'the viper of the battle frontier' by her challengers. She grabbed Brock's hand and with a sly grin on her face, placed it firmly on her butt.

"If you wanted to touch my ass, Brock, all you had to do is do it." She explained. She then walked off towards the house, leaving the breeder a bit stunned. He kept forgetting how forward Lucy can be towards him. Somehow she knew if Brock was ogling her and if she caught, she'd be more that happy to let him do whatever he was thinking. If he was watching her butt, she'd let him grope her butt. If he was watching her lips, she'd kiss him. And if he was watching her breasts, she'd raise her shirt and flash him, regardless of who was watching at the time. Needless to say, Brock's younger brothers loved having her around, for this reason. Brock just grinned and counted his lucky stars that he found the one girl who loved him.

"Didn't I say I would feed the swinub?" he asked, following her to the house.

"Yes but you were in there for a long time."

"Really?"

"About 20 minutes."

"That long?"

"Well, you do like to zone with the eggs."

"Sorry. I've never really noticed."

"It's ok. You're cute when you zone out."

The couple, and croagunk in tow, walked through the back door and into the kitchen. Brock's father, flint, was already at the breakfast table, drinking a large cup of coffee and his face buried in a newspaper.

"Morning pop." His son greeted as he put on his apron and began to make breakfast before his siblings woke up.

"Morning, Brock, Lucy."

" Morning father."

"Damnit. I told you not to call me that." He grumbled at the frontier brain. Lucy developed a habit of calling flint father, which flint hated for some reason. He never really gave anyone a reason he hated it but everyone could guess that it made him feel old. Lucy just smiled at his snap and went to aid Brock in the preparation.

"Hey Brock, you seen the papers?"

"Not yet dad. Why?"

"The front page story should interest you."

Brock wasn't one to read the newspaper but the way his father spoke, it sounded interesting. Flinted handed his eldest child the paper and Brock looked at the front page, seeing the picture of ash and dawn kissing and the headline as well.

"Well, I'll be! So they are finally hooking up!" he spoke with a smile.

"Hmmm, good picture." Added Lucy, who was looking over his shoulder.

"But why didn't he call you to tell you?"

"Its ok, Lucy. Knowing those two, they were probably busy with…..quality time."

**PETALBURG CITY**

**PETALBURG GYM**

The petalburg gym. Considered one of the hardest gyms to get a badge at in all of hoenn, mainly due to its gym leader. Norman was a powerful trainer, even by gym leader standards. They aren't many trainers who possess a badge from his gym and others just avoid his gym outright. But that doesn't mean Norman is getting rusty. In fact, today he was in a rather difficult training session.

"Vigoroth, slash!" he commanded his pokemon. The ape pokemon's claw glowed red as it advanced on the opponent.

"Gallade, leaf blade!" the opposing trainer responded as his psychic fighting type's arm glowed green. Claw met blade as they battled in a test of strength. Both jumped back as it was clear they were equal in power.

"Impressive but lets see how you handle this! Fury swipes!"

Vigoroth roared in response to his command and dashed to gallade.

"Fury cutter, gallade!"

The two pokemon's lightening fast attacks collided in a storm of slashes and counter-slashes.

"Nice but I'm ready for that! Gallade, close combat!"

Gallade got between vigoroth's arms and landed a rapid wave of punched to his chest, sending him sliding back.

"Vigoroth, you ok?" Norman asked. The pokemon growled but it still looked worn out.

"Good. Vigoroth, focus punch!"

Vigoroth's fist glowed white and he ran to the challenging pokemon.

"Double team!"

Right before his eyes, gallade split off and surrounded him with numerous clones of himself.

"Interesting. Close combat is a powerful fighting type move but it greatly lowers the defense of the pokemon who uses it. But you found a way around that by focusing on gallade's speed, allow it to dodge and avoid most attacks. Very smart but not good enough. Vigoroth, focus punch all the clones!"

It did as it was commanded as it punched out each cloned of gallade until, surprisingly, they were none left.

"What? Where did it go?"

"Gallade, psycho cut!"

It was then that Norman and vigoroth noticed that he was above him, powering up his psychic attack as he dove down.

"Damn! Vigoroth, counter with focus punch!"

Fist met psychic blade as the two attacks collided, causing the ground around his feet to give away. There was a massive explosion as the ground rumbled from the shock. Both pokemon, tired and worn out, jumped back to their respective trainers.

"I think that's enough for now." Norman spoke with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I guess you're right."

"But you did very well, max."

Yes, it was his youngest child and only son, max. He was truly proud of how strong a trainer he had become. Max gained some height over the years, growing to about 5'7. His hair was styled in a spiky fashion that stuck straight up. He had long since replaced his round shaped glasses with smaller, rectangle shaped ones, giving him an intelligent but rogue-ish look to him. Today, he wore a black t-shirt with the pokemon league symbol on the front and knickerbockers.

"I was impressed, max. You and gallade form a powerful team."

"Of course dad. Gallade is my best friend." He said, patting the back of his pokemon. Now when he was younger and traveling with ash, max found himself taking care of an injured ralts. Over the short while he was caring for it, the two became fast friends but max couldn't keep or catch ralts since he still was too young to be a trainer, so he had to let the psychic pokemon go. But he made a promise to it: when he was old enough to be a trainer, he'd find ralts and make him his starter pokemon. And sure enough, once max turned 10, he went back and search for 6 days before he found ralts. Since then, the two have never looked back. Over time, and thanks to a dawn stone his sister gave him for his 15th birthday, ralts evolved into gallade. Ash had a great influence on him to the point where gallade is an out of the ball pokemon.

"So how are my hard working boys?" spoke Norman's wife and Max's mother Caroline as she entered the gym, with fresh lemonade.

"Thanks honey. The training is going well. You'd be proud of your son." He answered, taking a sip of the beverage in one of the glasses she provided.

"He's that good?"

"Yep. If he keeps this up, I may retire earlier and make him gym leader."

"Thanks dad, but I'm not ready yet." Max answered after drinking some lemonade and passing the glass to his own pokemon.

"Not until I beat him."

Norman and Caroline didn't need to ask who max was talking of. Heck, you could ask any young pokemon trainer who they want to beat and ash will be there answer but max was more determined that most. Max, as it turns out, was a very talented trainer, combining intelligence with an adaptable battle style, similar to how ash use to battle. Ash kept a close eye on him since his first gym battle. He's said to Norman that 'max has great potential. He could probably surpass me.' But despite his talent, max has remained in the hoenn region, not because he lacked anything. He simply wanted to wait and master his home region before moving on.

"There is a distance between us and until I close that distance, I can't challenge him." Max proclaimed.

"Oh! Speaking of ash, here. Read this." Caroline said, removing a newspaper from under her arm and handing it to max.

"What?! I don't believe it! Ash is getting married!" he exclaimed.

"Really? That's great! Who's the lucky girl?"

"Who else could it be, dad? Its dawn."

"I always knew those two would make a great couple."

"Mom, does may know?"

"No. I just found out myself."

"Oh man! I gotta tell her. Where is she?"

"Out back with drew."

"Thanks mom. Gallade, teleport."

In an instant both trainer and pokemon vanished in a flash of light, leaving both parents alone in the gym.

"Well, that's max for you."

"Yep. That boy gets so excited with anything concerning ash."

Elsewhere, in the backyard of the berg homestead, we find Max's elder sister, May. Now, like everyone else, she had gone through her own changes over there years and like dawn, the years were very good to her. Of course may grew up in height as wells as hair length. She grew out her pigtails and braided them on the sides, but her best feature was her legs which seemed to go on forever, or so drew says. Speaking of drew, like Caroline said earlier, he was out there with her. Drew still had his trademark green hair but much longer, with a pony tail in the back. Currently, his hair was the least of his interests. Right now, may was the total focus of his attention. She was laid out on a bench wearing a cloth skirt and a bikini top with a rose in her hair.

"How much longer?"

"Not much. I just have to get your legs." Drew answered, holding out his thumb before putting down another sketch.

"You and my legs. Why don't I just cut them off and you can marry them." She quipped.

"I could but I have a little problem. I'm kinda in love with the woman who's attached them." He said with his boyish smirk, which gave may a smile. Of course, may and drew were currently dating, after many years of back and forth flirting between them. Drew has since retired from contests and now has a flower shop in hoenn, which is known for its roses. May still performs in contests but not so much as she did. She is more of a judge now and teaches up and coming coordinators the ropes.

"You're lucky you're so sweet. I wouldn't just do this for anyone."

"And who else would you do this with?"

"Oh? Thinking I'm cheating on you?"

"Of course not. I'm too good looking for you to cheat on me."

"jerk." She snapped playfully before sticking out her tongue at him

"Keep that up May and I'll jump you, right here and now."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

May decided to test him out and once again, stuck out her tongue at her boyfriend and drew was good to his word. He calmly placed pad and paper down on the ground and, just like he promised, he leapt onto her and kissed her, capturing her trouble making tongue into his mouth. Normally, this would lead to a grouping session but fate had other plans.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!!!!!" max screamed as he and gallade appeared out of the sky and crashed in front of his sister and her boyfriend.

"MAX!!!" may screamed at her sibling as drew covered her from the kick up of dust and dirt caused by their landing.

"Awwwwww man! (cough) gallade we gotta work on the landings!" he said, standing up and dusted himself off.

"max, what the hell did I tell you about my private time?"

"it's not like I'm interrupting anything."

"nope, you aren't." drew muttered, slightly angered over his intrusion.

"anyway, what do you want, runt?"

"don't call me runt, drew. I hate that name."

"but to me, you'll always be May's runt of a brother." He spoke, flicking his hair.

"whatever green bean."

"max, drew, stop it. Now what was so important that you teleported here?"

"oh yeah! May, you gotta read this!"

He handed his sister the now dirt covered newspaper which she read. A giddy smile rolled onto her face as she saw the picture of ash and dawn in a lover's embrace and sharing a kiss that was beyond friendly.

"after all these years, they are finally taking the plunge." Spoke drew, who was reading over her shoulder.

"just think; you two had been planning for years and here they go and do it themselves." Commented max on the subject. The planning he was referring to was their futile attempts to hook ash and dawn up. Of course may and drew knew the two friends were close enough to each other for romance to spring up but thought the two of them were too stubborn, shy or thickheaded to try anything. So they took it upon themselves to 'help them along'; arranging double dates, leaving love notes, sending gifts, etc. unfortunately for the hoenn duo, ash and dawn knew exactly what they were trying to do and shared many a good laugh at their attempts, mostly for the fact that they didn't know the full extend of their friendship.

"well, whatever the reason, I'm happy for them finding each other." Said may.

"you think they'll invite us?"

"of course. we are friends right?"

"hmmm I'll have to send those two a bouquet of flowers."

"flowers? That's lame! You should send something more manly!"

"only a boy with no idea of romance and obviously no girlfriend would say something like that."

"oh yeah, green bean? How about decide with a pokemon battle?"

"oh please! I'd mop the floor with you."

As two of the most important men in her life argue over gift ideas for the engaged couple, may was too busy staring at the picture. It seemed right to her. It has always seemed right, ever since she first met dawn and saw how the two of them acted around each other. She was there when dawn lit up upon seeing ash pull off the ice aqua jet combo that she thought of earlier. There was something more to her relationship him than she would admit. But it didn't matter to her. She was just glad that her two closest friends finally found love with each other.

_Ash, I'm happy for you and I hope she makes you even happier. And dawn, you better make me a bridesmaid._

**VEILSTONE CITY**

**REGGIE'S HOUSE**

We cross the ocean to veilstone city and the home of pokemon caretaker and expert trainer, Reggie, who was looking at the local newspaper. But instead of the local stories he was use to reading, it was the engagement of two people whom he knew very well.

"this is certainly a surprise." He spoke, with his feet comfortable on his coffee table.

"didn't think ash for the marrying type."

"it seems like the last thing he has yet to do. Still, dawn is a good match for him."

The voice came from maylene, the veilstone gym leader and an old friend of Reggie's. she had met and battled both ash and dawn many years ago, beating her and only drawing with him. She was highly impressed with both of them but she bonded more with dawn. It was at a time when maylene suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Reggie's younger brother Paul and she had lost her confidence as a gym leader. Even though she was a coordinator, dawn challenged her in an official gym battle, which was just what she needed to light her fire again. After that, the two girls became life long friends. Maylene's hair was pink and tied in a top knot but other than that, she remained about the same. Her top pokemon, lucario, was out side on the roof, meditating but still aware of what was going on in the house.

"so, does he know?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. Knowing my little brother, he would be the first to find out anything about ash."

"so where is he?"

"out back. You gonna go see him."

"just for a while."

With that, the gym leader rose from her seat and walked out the back door of the house. The backyard was quiet, considering most of the pokemon was still asleep. This was the scene maylene found Paul. He was facing away from her, standing completely still, in front of a small grave. Paul pretty much stayed the same over the years, only he was no longer wearing his old dark purple outfit. Today, he wore a simple white t-shirt, shorts and sandals. She didn't know how to approach him or what to say to gain his attention when he was like this but fortunately for her, he took that choice from her.

"is there something you want, maylene?"

the fighting pokemon trainer jumped a little, not because of the tone of his voice but the fact he knew she was there. For some strange reason, he always knew when she was behind him. Maybe it was the way she walked or maybe it some kind of odor that she gave off or maybe he just knew her so well, that he could always sense her. But it always seemed to surprise her.

"um, yeah. Did you read the paper this morning?"

"yes. I know about ash's engagement."

"what do you think?"

"…………………."

"Paul?"

"I'm……….happy for him. He deserves to have someone in his life like that." Paul said sincerely.

"so you gonna call him?"

"no. I'm not ready yet."

"Paul, you still can't be blaming yourself for what happened. You were a different person back then."

"was I so different? It was still my choice. I let it happen cause my ego got the better of me and he paid for it." Said Paul with a tinge of sadness and guilt in his voice. The incident he was referring to was a pokemon battle. Something that simple but it was a horrifying event for Paul. It was over 5 years ago, during the indigo plateau tournament; ash and Paul had both reached the semi-finals and now faced each other in one of the most storied rivalries of the event. It was a six on six battle and boy, what a battle it was. The two trainers fought fiercely for the spot in the finals, neither giving an inch until finally, it came down to their last pokemon; ash's pikachu and Paul's elecabuzz. The two pokemon battled hard but it seemed it was a stalemate. That's when ash noticed it and nearly screamed in rage.

Electric pokemon had many unique traits about them. Most notable is their electric build up. When an electric pokemon builds up too much static electricity, they can often get sick from it. This was their version of catching a cold. Normally, the only remedy is to allow it to rest and be hooked up to a special machine to drain off the excess energy but it could be done by letting the pokemon battle but that was only as a last resort. Pikachu had this condition so many times, ash can tell the symptoms of it right away. And that's what he saw when he looked at electabuzz. Paul had let his pokemon get a cold so his power would triple. Ash begged him to stop the match and allow electabuzz to rest but Paul wouldn't hear it and continued the battle. Ash and pikachu battled on, in hopes of ending the battle quickly but due to electabuzz's power and Paul's skill, it was a long grueling match. In the end, ash claim victory when electabuzz lost all of its extra electricity. It was then that Paul got it checked out but the damage had been done. Electabuzz had slipped into a coma and was extremely week. For three days, it held on, with Paul not seeming to care. Of course electabuzz would pull through. He was his pokemon and all of his pokemon were strong and this would make it stronger. Sadly, that was not the case.

Electabuzz died 3 days after the battle. Even though ash would go on to win the tournament, he didn't feel much like celebrating. All he could think of was that the pokemon that battled him and pikachu so hard was dead. When he saw his trainer, he flew into a rage and attacked him. But instead of snapping at ash or saying that electabuzz was a weakling, Paul just looked at him with dead eyes. Ash knew that Paul was hurting at that moment. He had lost his most powerful and loyal pokemon and it was his fault. For a long time, neither trainer spoke, until Paul broke it with only 2 words:

"I'm sorry."

It was the last time the two rivals would speak to each other as Paul left soon after with the body of his pokemon. He returned to sinnoh and moved in with his older brother where he buried electabuzz. It always loved there so it was the best he could do to honor his pokemon and atone for his mistake. Since that day, the demon of sinnoh as he was called never took part in a pokemon battle. Whenever he does go to the backyard, its to silently pay his respects to his departed friend.

"but its been five years! Don't you think its time for you to come back?"

"I'm not ready yet. I can't call myself his rival again. At least, not yet anyway."

"ok." Maylene said, defeated. Since she was Reggie's friend, of course she and Paul had run into each other on many occasions. At first, she was wary of him, given their history but over time, her feelings for him changed as he himself changed.

"maylene?"

"yeah?"

"you wanna get some breakfast?" Paul asked, finally turning to her. Gone was his permanent scowl and cold eyes. Now he had a genuine smile matched with kind eyes graced his face, thanks to years of self reflection. Maylene had to admit that it did make him look attractive.

"really Paul?"

"I know a place that serves great pancakes."

"um ok." She responded with a smile and a light blush on her face. Without another word, Paul and maylene walked off out of the yard and down to the road. The only thing that remaining behind was a single flower, placed gently on top the grave of the pokemon.

**PALLET TOWN**

**OAK COMPOUND**

Gary oak sat at his dinner table, enjoying a sizeable breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast with fresh jelly. He sipped his coffee in his white bath robe as his hand found its way to his newspaper, which was on the table. He had hoped to see his grandfather on the cover, talking about his work in the orange islands but it was not the picture of his beloved grandfather on the front page.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!!! YAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Gary exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his seat and spilling his coffee.

"everything ok, stud?" called a voice from upper stairs.

"yeah red! You won't believe this! Ash and dawn are getting married!" he yelled back.

"its too early in the morning for jokes."

"no! its for real. Listen to this. 'the pokemon world is still in shock over the news that master pokemon trainer ash ketchum proposed to top coordinator dawn berlizt at a popular restaurant in her home town of twinleaf town. Sources say that the long time friends arrived at the restaurant around 8pm and had a quiet dinner. Then ketchum supposedly got down on one knee and popped the question with a profession violinist, which he paid for, played in the background. Berlizt said yes to his question and the two shared a kiss which was captured by a freelance photographer. The couple could not be reached for a comment, as they immediately boarded his pokemon, rayquaza's back and flew away to her home.'" He read out loud with a smile.

"hmmm so I guess you weren't joking."

Gary looked over his shoulder to see the piercing red eyes of the red haired coordinator who stole his heart, who went by the name zoey. Like dawn, zoey had become a top rank coordinator, but unlike dawn, still competes regularly. It was in goldenrod city where she ran into Gary oak. He was in town attending a lecture on legendary pokemon and their interaction with humans while she was there to compete in a contest, which she easily won. they literally bumped into one other at the goldenrod train station. Its less of love at first sight but more like lust. They struck up a conversation which led to a lunch date that same day. Now of course zoey know who he was, being that he was almost as well know as his grandfather but she never thought he was as handsome as he was. Gary was wowed by her as well. He had always had a thing for red heads and zoey fit the bill with him. Her combination of toughness and beauty drew him to her. The two talked of many things, most of all being their mutual friendships with ash and dawn but they both snuck in come-ons and friendly flirting. After lunch, Gary invited her to his hotel room for a drink. What the drink was didn't matter since the moment she got into his room, she jumped him like a rabid glameow. They two have been together every since but no one ones, except for ash, dawn, and prof. oak. The crimson haired coordinator kissed him before moving over to eating some of his toast.

"well its about time really." She said between bites.

"you could see it too?"

"of course. you'd have to be stupid not to."

"and that we aren't, red."

"but it took them a while, seeing how long those two have been having sex."

"what? Really?"

"you mean you didn't know?"

"of course not! I mean, how did you know?"

"during a contest. Dawn was freaking out as usual and ran out in a panic. Ash followed her to calm her down and they were gone for a while. I decided to find her and see how it was going and lo and behold, I found them in a closet."

"and they were going at it? Right there?"

"dawn had her dress hiked up and ash was laying in her."

"did they know you were watching?"

"nope. And they still don't know."

"how long ago was that?"

"about 6 years ago but I think they were doing it for a while before I found out. I doubt they would just decide to do something like that on a whim. Besides, it seemed to work."

"how's that?"

"well, after that incident, dawn wouldn't get nervous or panic before a contest. Figured it was a stress reliever."

"hmmm, well that's surprising to find out. I think I could give him a call and congratulate him."

"I don't think you'll have time for that, stud?"

"why is that, red?" he asked, drinking his coffee. His answer came as something was draped over his head. He was worried for a moment until he realized that it was zoey's rob over his head.

"I guess ash can wait a minute or 20."

**CERULEAN CITY**

**RIVER WALK**

"I can't believe it. Ash ketchum, married."

"who are you telling? I was suppose to marry him."

"oh really?"

"yes. That ash is a sexy man and that dawn chick won't understand how to keep a man like that happy."

"hey! Dawn isn't that bad of a woman. She's really hot."

"well if she's so hot, then why don't you date her?"

"please! As if I had a chance. Remember that she and ash are thick as thieves. Besides, how could I stand up to against the number trainer in the world?"

"that's what makes him so sexy. It won't last."

"and what makes you so sure?"

"cause once he meets me, he'll forget about that blue haired bimbo."

This kind of conversation was taking place all over the city. the only difference between all the others was the fact that behind the duo was a girl walking slowly behind them, listening to them speak. She didn't saw a word and walked on with a somewhat depressed look on her face. If they had looked back, they would've recognized the gym leader of the cerulean gym, misty waterflower. She was still skinny as always with B cup but she had long abandoned her single pig tail on the side of her head and let her hair fall as it may. She was still a bit of a tomboy at heart though, still wearing her sneakers but she was still on par with her three older sisters in terms of beauty.

Like the rest of the world, she learned this morning that her old friend ash was getting married to, who else, dawn. Now, misty didn't hate the girl but she didn't like her. that's part of the reason why she and ash never worked. Misty was ash's first real girlfriend and she couldn't be happier. She had always liked him but hid it behind her fiery personality and arguments with him. She always thought it would be like that but something happened that she didn't expect: ash grew up. He was growing tired of constantly fighting with her over every little thing. Before, their fighting was seen as cute but it soon lost it cuteness. Ash was still the same but different somehow in her eyes.

Then there was the dawn issue. Though their relationship was strained, they did try many times to salvage it but it would be the dawn issue that would end it. Misty was tired of how close ash was to the sinnoh native. There wasn't a day that went by where he didn't talk to her and/or see her. he always seemed to take time out of his day to call her, even when he was with her. it nagged at her constantly and it was a source of friction between them. Then one day, it all came to ahead. Misty accused ash of cheating on her with dawn. Of course he denied it and would've liked it to end there but misty's temper got the better her. she continued to accuse him of having a relationship with her but he continued to say that there were only friends. She gave him an ultimatum: if he still wanted to be with her, he needed to stop talking to the 'blue haired slut.' She had thought she scored a victory since she was his girlfriend and oldest friend, next to Brock and Gary of course, but she underestimated his bond with the girl in question. It was then that she looked into his eyes, and what she saw scared her. his eyes were filled with a number of different emotions; quiet rage, anger, sadness, and pain. Ash didn't say a word. He didn't need to. His eyes said it all; he was pissed. He merely got up from his seat and walked out of the room. It would be 2 years before ash would see or even speak to her again. When she asked Brock what to do, he told her to pray and hope he forgives her. She had crossed a line that she had no right to cross and now, she had lost him. Although ash did start to speak to her again, their relationship was never the same.

"oh! I'm sorry!" misty said on reflex as she bumped into someone. Apparently, she was so lost in her own thoughts that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking.

"its quite alright. You seemed lost in thought."

"I've just had a lot on my mind as of late."

"let me guess: ash ketchum's upcoming marriage?"

"how-how did you know?" she asked at her stunningly true statement.

"well, for one thing, its what everyone is talking about. And for another thing, you are misty, the gym leader here, right?"

"yes but what does….."

It was at that moment misty got a good look at the woman she had bumped into. She had long flowing light purple hair that complemented her light pink eyes that seemed to look through her. her dress was a pale blue that reached down to her to black snap on shoes. It didn't take long for misty to recognize who she was. How could she not? She was as important a part of ash's life as she was. She was once ash's girlfriend, like she was, but unlike her, the two of them parted on happier terms and remained close. Not to mention, she was the salon maiden of the battle frontier.

"Annabel?"

"so you remember me. Good."

"but why…….."

"come on. Me and you have a lot to talk about."

**TWINLEAF TOWN**

**BERLIZT RESIDENCE**

"Oh honey! I'm so happy! My little ash is getting married!"

Ash smiled at his mother's reaction to his announcement of his engagement. But no, he was not in pallet town. He was calling from Johanna's home, the living room to be exact. He was naked from the waist up and only had on his pants from last night, since he obviously stayed over last night. It was a chance for him to show off his well muscular frame, with a few scars from his many adventures.

"thanks mom. I'm just glad I was able to tell you before you found out some other way."

"don't worry about that, ash. We don't get the newspaper until much later in the morning. Although it would explain why all those photographers were gathering outside."

"what?! They got there already!?"

"yep but they didn't tell us anything. But don't worry. Your father is outside talking with them now."

"dad? Talking?"

"GODDAMN IT, GET OUT OUR LAWN!! SALAMANCE, HYPERBEAM!!!"

The pallet town native sweat dropped as he heard the roar of the man who spawned him and the resulting explosion from his pokemon. And yet, Delia merely smiled her motherly smile at her son, despite the dust cloud behind her.

"sounds like he's making progress." She giggled.

"damn parasites! No respect for people's property!" came that same loud voice from before.

"hi honey. Who are you talking with?"

"its just ash. You know he's going married?"

"married? So that's why those bastards are out there. Who's he getting hitched to?"

"dawn."

"ha! I knew it! Let me talk to the boy!"

"of course. honey, do you want to talk with your father?"

"sure mom. I'll talk to you later."

"bye sweetie. And remember to wear clean you know what."

"mom……."

Delia smiled at her son's reaction to her statement before standing up from her seat in front of the phone. Soon, the image of a man filled the screen and stared back at ash. He was a monster of a man, well built and tall. His head was covered with mid length hair that was a dull silver in color. But his most striking feature was his eyes: a steely black with furrowed eyebrows that matched his intimating frame. He could stare down anyone or anything with those eyes, which got him in more trouble than he asked for. To the world, he was silver ketchum, AKA, the legend killer, due to his love of battling legendary pokemon but to ash, he was dad.

"hey old man." Ash greeted, using his favorite nickname for him.

"hey, boy. Heard you are finally marrying that hot little number you call a friend."

"yep."

"its about time. I was wondering when you two would stop playing the friend game. Bout time too, giving how long you two have been banging each other."

"yeah, I figures it was ti-WHAT?! WHAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT WE WERE HAVING SEX?!" he asked, surprised at his father's statement.

"you can hide much from your old man, son. You're half naked in her house, meaning you spent the night, meaning you two had sex last night. Two good 'friends' don't just have sex on the spur of the moment."

"but I could've had my shirt in the wash!"

"that's true but then I remembered something."

"what's that?"

"I remember back when dawn came for a visit."

"and?"

"well, I don't know many friends who don't wear underwear to their friend's house." Silver snickered as ash's face paled at what he heard. He knew exactly what he was talking about. Shortly after he and dawn began to have sexual relations, she began a habit of not wearing panties around him. Every so often, she would playfully raise her skirt and flash him, which would lead to them sneaking off somewhere and having an impromptu sex session. He had always warned her about someone seeing her like that, but she assured him that she was careful, considering she had to deal with perverts attempting to look up her skirt in the past.

"don't worry, boy. I wasn't trying to look up her skirt. It was an accident. So how long have you been banging?"

"about 7 years."

"damn! That long?! Bout time, in my opinion. But she seems kinky, almost like your mother. Why I remember one time where we were having dinner in a fancy restaurant and she whisper how she want to suck my---"

"I DON'T WANT TO HERE THAT!!!" Ash exclaimed while the older ketchum laughed at his son's reaction to his old love story. After his laughter died, the scene seemed to get very serious between them.

"so, are you sure about this?"

"yeah, I am. It feels…………….right. Its always felt right, even if I didn't really plan it."

"you didn't huh? Heh! You really are my son."

"you mean………………you too?"

"yep. I was out having lunch with your mom and she was looking so beautiful. It just came out but I knew it was something I wanted to do. I wanted her in my life and at my side and I never regretted it."

"wow. That's amazing, dad."

"yep. I wish I was as amazing father as that."

"dad……"

it was still a touchy subject for him. Ash barely remembered his father but he also remember his presence around him. Such a strong and commanding aura came from him that he could never forget who he was. Silver left on his own pokemon journey when ash was three and he did very well for a while. But that all changed when he competed in the indigo plateau and lost in the final 4 due to a simple mistake on his part. Silver was ashamed of his mistake and he couldn't face his family with his loss so he remained on the road. He kept in contact with Delia, who he told never to tell ash about him, since he didn't want to think of his father as a loser. He always sent them money, which was a lot considering he wasn't very big on spending on himself. He kept just enough for food for himself and his pokemon and sent the rest to his wife and son. When Delia told him that their son had begun his journey to be a pokemon master, silver was delighted. Over the years, he kept close tabs on his progress, from his disastrous indigo league match with Ritchie, to his conquest of the orange league and the battle frontier, to his victory over the sinnoh league. In fact, silver was there when ash won his battle and watched with such pride. He would've left it at that if he had not run into Ritchie, who was competing at the time. Despite his repeated requests not to, Ritchie finally introduced ash to silver. Ash immediately took a liking to the older trainer, not knowing he was his father. Eventually, ash invited his friends to his home to celebrate his biggest win to date, and extended the invite to silver. He reluctantly accepted and during the trip back to his home town, he dreaded what Delia's reaction to his return would be and what his son would think of him. All questions were answered as ash's mother, upon seeing her long gone husband, ran to him and gave him a long overdue kiss on the lips. This came as a shock to everyone, ash most of all but it was nothing compared to the shock of Delia revealing his identity as her husband and ash's father. Normally, when a boy meets the father he never knew, he would be angry over his lack of presence in his life but ash wasn't normal. He merely smiled and hugged his father and just said he was happy to be home. He truly didn't have a problem with his absence but silver didn't really forgive himself so easily. He would often lament over not being there for his son and wife but neither cared and told him many times that they were just happy to have him home.

"I know. I know. But you can't blame an old man for feeling like that."

"dad, I'll just be happy if you are there on my wedding day."

"good. its nice to see you inherited your mother's good sense as well as her good looks."

"hey, I got your body and skills."

"that's true. I hope you got all my skills, especially the ones in the sack. Say how about we have you mom have a talk with dawn. Maybe give her some pointers. For starters, your mother does this thing with her mouth that could make a snorlax wake up!" he laughed.

"dad, if you want to have a hope of having grandkids, shut up about that." Ash explained through clenched teeth. It was something that ash found out about his father: he was a sex fiend and apparently so was his mother. They didn't seem to mind about talking about their adventures in bed with ash, which gave him no end of embarrassment. He would complain but his father would just laugh at him in a boisterous way.

"awwwwww lighten up, boy! Its natural for people in love to talk about such thing! I mean, just this morning, your mother wore this simple little skirt while she was washing dishes, and I came up behind her and I…….."

"WILL YOU SHUT UP, OLD MAN?!!?!"

Silver laughed at his son's reaction while ash just fumed, wondering if he really was his father and not some old pervert who lives with him.

"well, any way, say hi to that bombshell you call a fiancé for me and your mom."

"ok. I will. Later old man."

"bye, son."

He waved to his dad as the screen went blank and he hung up the phone.

"so how did it go?" asked Johanna, coming into the living room.

"mom and dad were happy for me. They send their love to dawn."

"oh so you got to them early enough?"

"barely. The reporters were already there."

"I glad that you were able to catch…… do you some something burning?"

"burning? Burning! BURNING!!!" ash yelled, jumping out of his seat and dashing to the kitchen like a mad man. Apparently, ash was in the midst of preparing breakfast for himself and dawn when he decided to give his parents a call. Johanna watched him scramble as he quickly plated the stack of pancakes which didn't burn as much as he thought. Even though he had grown up into a fine young man, he was still ash on the inside. And she did mean fine. Ash's had inherited his father's towering frame and mother's relaxing facial features, making him into a fine figure of a man. Even now, Johanna did find herself staring at his shirtless body, wondering if she were just a few years younger.

"there! Finished!" ash said to himself, waking the woman out of her day dream.

"a fresh stack of oran berry pancakes."

"wow. They look pretty good."

"that they are. They are dawn's favorite so I make them for her when I have the time."

"a great trainer and a great cook. Dawn landed a good one."

"you think so?"

"I know so. Dawn has dated her fair share of men, Kenny and Conway included, but there has been one constant in her life: you. I mean it ash. I don't think there is a greater man out there for my daughter than you and I know you will take good care of him."

"thanks Johanna." He said, placing the stack of pancakes onto a tray, along with a glass of orange juice.

"now if you will excuse me, I have to deliver breakfast to my soon-to-be-wife."

"um one more thing ash." Stopped Johanna as he made his way to the stairs.

"yeah?"

"I don't know what you did to her last night but I heard dawn make a noise that I never heard make before in her life. What did you do to her?"

Ash paled at the statement as he froze in his tracks.

"but…how?" he asked, turning his head to her.

"two words: thin walls."

"GO AWAY!!!" Dawn screamed out of her window at the mass of people below her. the group was made of fans, reporters, and photographers who gathered at her house before the sun came up. They had hoped to get a word or a picture from either her or her friend turned fiancé but all they got was an angry dawn, shouting at them, wearing only the shirt that ash was wearing the night before.

"dawn, just a statement please!"

"when is the wedding?"

"did you know he would propose to you?"

"how long have you been dating ash?"

"did you cheat on Conway with ash? Is that why you two broke up?"

"THAT IS IT!! PIPPLUP! BUBBLEBEAM!!" she roared her command at pipplup. The water penguin let loose his water attack on the crowd below, causing them to scatter like ants. Dawn didn't care much for the paparazzi or the magazines they work for. Their publications got her into a lot of trouble with her mother. It was also the reason that she and Kenny never worked out when it was leaked that ash and dawn went on vacation together to cinnabar island. She closed the window with a slam when a knock came at her door.

"who is it?!" she snapped as the familiar head of untamed hair popped out of the door.

"now is that anyway to talk to the man you will call husband?"

Dawn calmed herself when she say it was ash. Now, she had her bad days when she looked like she could stare down a gyarados but all it would take to calm her down is ash's smile. And he was smiling at her as he entered the room.

"oh ash, I'm sorry. Those reporters got on my nerves."

"well then I have just what you need for those nerves." He said, presenting the plate of pancakes to her.

"ORAN BERRY PANCAKES?! OH ASH!" she squealed, rousing pikachu from his sleep with Bunnery, both of whom where laying in a pile of cloths in a corner of the room. Her happiness was well deserved. Now, a few years ago, when ash started to travel by himself, he realized that he needed to cook for himself and so he learned how to, both from his mother and Brock. Over time, he became as good a cook as Brock was and dawn, being the person he spent the most time with, became his biggest fan. Among the many dishes ash learned to fix, her favorite was oran berry pancakes. Sure, there were other people around who could make the dish but she loved how ash's made his. So he was resigned to cook it for her whenever he had the chance. He sat down on the bed, follow by her, with eagerness in her eyes. Taking fork and knife in hand, he cut into the stack, covered in syrup and removed a piece. Dawn opened her mouth, accepting the food given to her. she muffled a scream of delight as she chewed.

"like it?"

"of course I do! I love your pancakes!"

"and I just think. I'll be able to make this for you everyday." He said, taking a bite of pancake. It was then that dawn started to become sullen and slightly withdrawn which didn't escape his notice.

"what's wrong?"

"are…….you sure this is right?"

"um it is the same batter I always make."

"no ash. I mean us. Is this the right thing for us to do? I mean, we've been friends for years and now we are getting married, out of the blue. What if we don't work? What if we break up? What if we have fights? What if-"

"dawn………….do you love me?"

Dawn's rant came to an end with ash's question to her.

"huh?"

"do you love me?"

"of course I do. I love you more than anyone in the world." She answered, which was followed by the feeling of the master pokemon train's hand on the side of her face, caressing her ever so softly.

"good, then we have nothing to worry about. All we can do is love each other and support each other and we will be fine." He explained with his boyish grin on his face. Dawn's hand reached up and pressed against his hand, feeling better than she was a second ago.

"how do you do that?"

"do what?"

"say exactly what I need to hear to make me feel better."

"I've had practice."

Just then, a small rock hit the window, obviously thrown by the pack of reporters and photographers who have re-gathered from her earlier attack. The couple and their respective out of the ball pokemon walked over and gathered at the now open window. Immediately, they were barraged by questions from the group below.

"they been out there all morning. Why wont they just go away?"

"well, they wont until they get something to report on. Hmmmm."

"ash, I know that look. What are you planning?"

"well they wont go away until they get something."

"yeah. And?"

"how about we give them a little show?" he suggested with an evil grin on his face. Normally, dawn would do anything to appease them but she knew well enough to know what he wanted to do.

"hey guy! Get your cameras ready! Don't wanna miss this photo-op!" ash yelled down to the crowd. And as they were wondering what he meant, ash wrapped his arms around dawn, who in turn wrapped her arms around his neck, and before anyone knew it, the most talked about couple in the world were locked into a passionate kiss. There was a flurry of activity as the mob flashed their cameras and camera phones, not wanting to miss even a second of the event. After was seemed like forever, they broke apart from the lip lock and merely stared into each other's eyes, ignorant of the questions being thrown at them. Dawn also loved kissing ash. He made her feel safe and strong like her own guardian angel. Sure, she had her fair share of boyfriends but none of them came close to ash. He was her first on the road friend, her first fan, her first kiss, her first sexual partner and her first love. Ash looked back down at her, his forehead resting on hers, wondering to himself how he could land such a perfect woman. She was his constant companion, next to pikachu. When he was first interested in girls, dawn was the first girl he was ever interested in. he compared all the girls he dated to her but in reality there was no one like her.

"you're have to let me go so I can fix my hair."

"why? I told you, you look the same to me, bed head or not." He commented, earning a playful flick on his nose.

"you are such a boy, ash ketchum."

"true, but I'm your boy."

For six months, it seems the whole world wanted to know more about the upcoming wedding of ash and dawn more than the pokemon league tournaments that where taking place: where was it being held, who was invited, who were the groomsmen and bridesmaids, who was catering, etc. But for the rest of the world, the wedding was small and intimate with only close friends and relatives on both sides appearing. Even a rival or two stopped by. Truly it was an exciting event.

But that's another story.


End file.
